Monthly Archives
July 2021
Karachi: Sports Journalist Association of Sindh (SJAS), in collaboration with Greenwich University, held a ceremony to honour the first visually impaired cricket statistician, Sohail Khan. In the programme, at the Greenwich university auditorium with strict Covid-19 SOPs, Sohail responded to a volley of questions, about Cricket records, from the students, who were amazed at the spontaneous replies and the knowledge of Sohail.
Shoaib Ahmed, Editor Scoreline magazine, and Faizan Lakhani, senior journalist, acted as a jury to adjudge responses from Sohail Khan. Umar Khan, the media head of Greenwich University, was the presenter of the programme. Addressing the audience, senior journalist Iqbal Jamil applauded SJAS for organising such a programme. He added that Sohail Khan had proven his worth by replying to the tough questions impulsively with ease.
SJAS president, Muhammad Asif Khan, Senior Vice President, Zubair Nazeer Khan, Vice President Mehmood Riaz, Faizan Lakhani and Shazaib Bhutto, the trusted and longstanding aide of Sohail Khan, also shared their experience with the hero of the ceremony. They were of the view that Sohail Khan is a living example of passion and zeal which can lead one through every disability. They added that Shoail had made many able as impaired before him.
SJAS Secretary, Muhammad Asghar Azeem termed Sohail Khan a real hero and wished that he would be able to fulfil his dream of covering a cricket game at the home of cricket, Lord’s. Sohail Khan, sharing his journey with the attendees, said a person needs to be firm and Allah will also help; one has to believe in himself. He appreciated SJAS for recognising his talent, from day one, rather than looking down upon him.
Sohail recalled his association with FM101 as the beginning of his professional life. He revealed that he kept his impairment as a secret, to the radio audience, until he gained their trust through knowledge. In the end, as a token of appreciation, SJAS awarded a cheque of Rs 2lac to Sohail Khan.
Team Sjas
The Sports Journalists Association of Sindh (SJAS) has held the “Hockey reporting workshop” to mark the Sports Journalists Day, at the Karachi Hockey Academy (KHA). Addressing the occasion, former Hockey captain Hanif Khan said that a player or organiser could not dodge a journalist with proper homework. He acknowledged that a sports journalist plays a major role in an athlete’s growth. Hanif Khan paid tribute to SJAS for organising the event on national sports on such an important day.
Former Captain of the national junior team and member of the national teams in Athens and Sydney Olympics and World Cup 2002, Kashif Jawwad imparted knowledge of the five-a-side format to journalists. He said that in the past lack of knowledge, about regulations, has cost Pakistan. This format, of two halves of 10-minute each, is getting popular worldwide and the Pakistan Hockey Federation is also working on a roadmap for this format’s promotion.
The coordinator of the PHF and the Secretary-General of the KHA, Haider Hussain gave credit to SJAS for the betterment of KHA. He hoped that this bond will go from strength to strength. International Hockey commentator Riazuddin, senior sports journalists Rashid Aziz, Syed Nasar Iqbal, Mehmood Riaz, Maqsood Ahmed, Nadira Mushtaq, and Jaffar Hussain also imparted their knowledge about reporting and news packaging.
The workshop was attended by large numbers of SJAS members. SJAS President Muhammad Asif Khan, while expressing his views, said that knowledge of laws further enhances the reporting standard. The Secretary-General of SJAS, Muhammad Asghar Azeem said that since its inception SJAS has been fulfilling its role of imparting knowledge. He further said that the world body, AIPS, which came into being in 1924, announced 2nd July as the world sports journalists day in 1994, therefore, on the directives of the Pakistan Sports Writers Federation, this day is being observed.
In the end, secretary Sindh Olympic Association, Ahmed Ali Rajput, and Olympian Kashif Jawwad distributed certificates among the participants. Senior Vice President, Pakistan Sports Writers Federation, Syed Nasar Iqbal and Senior Vice President, SJAS Zubair Nazeer Khan presented shields to Olympian Kashif Jawwad and secretary KHA Haider Hussain.